Automotive sanders



March 5, 1957 w. T. ANDERSON 2,784,018

AUTOMOTIVE SANDERS Filed Feb. 8, 1954 o s: n... 'Il'. r'. '11"'....1

.Fig/4 United States Patent O AUTOMOTIVE SANDERS Wilbur T. Anderson,Denver, Colo.

Application February 8, 1954, Serial No. 408,877

2 Claims. (Cl. 291-44) This invention relates to a sand valve forreleasing anti-skid sand to the wheels of an automotive vehicle, andmore particularly to a sand valve of the type illustrated and describedin applicants co-pending application Serial No. 356,666J now Patent No.2,760,406.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a valve structure,designed to be positioned upon the lower extremity of a sand conduit orhose leading from a suitable sand reservoir on an automotive vehicle,which can be operated either by vacuum or electrically to release sand,when desired, ahead of the drive wheels of the vehicle, which will notbecome clogged by mud, water, slush or other foreign materials.

Sand valves of this type are usually used only in winter weather and aretherefore subjected to ying mud, snow and slush which is driven upwardlyinto the housing by the rapid air ow caused by the vehicles motion. Theaccumulated moist material is frozen in the device by the freezingtemperatures encountered and the sand valve is rendered useless untilthawed out.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the device thatwater, mud, and slush cannot be splashed or blown into the valveoperating mechanism to become frozen therein, and to provide means forconstantly loosening and eradicating any moisture, mud, and slush whichmay attempt to enter the device.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and eiliciency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved sand valve;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section therethrough, taken on the line 2-2, Fig.4, with the interior structure shown in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a similar section, with the interior structure illustrated insection; and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section, looking downwardly on the line 44, Fig.2.

The improved sand valve comprises a flat-sided, hopper-like housinghaving an elongated, rectangular, horizontal cross-section, closed atits top by means of a sealing cap 11. The sealing cap 11 is held inplace on the housing 10 in any desired manner, such as by means ofself-threading screws 12.

The bottom of the housing terminates in a discharge nipple 13 aboutwhich a flexible tube 14 is secured in any desired manner. The tube 14is formed from exible rubber, neoprene, or flexible plastic, andterminates at its bottom in an enlarged sand discharge bell 15 which isformed integrally therewith.

The lower periphery of the bell 1S is surrounded by a still furtherenlarged bead or verge 16. The exible tube Patented Mar. 5, 1957 "ice 14and the llexible bell l5, with its verge 16, form an efficient moisturetrap. The dilerences in the diameters of the verge 16 and the bell 15form a first moisture trapping shoulder 18 and the diEerences in thediameters between the bell 15 and the tube 14 form a second relativelywide moisture trapping shoulder 17. The differences in diameters betweenthe tube 14 and the nipple 13 form a third and iinal trapping shoulder35. Water, slush and mud splashed upwardly from the roadway impingeagainst the internal wall of the verge and bell and are trapped frombeing blown upwardly into the housing 10 by the moisture trappingshoulders 18, 17 and 35.

Moisture is still further deterred from traveling upwardly into thehousing 10 by means of an annular lip 19 which surrounds the lowerextremity of the tube 14 and which projects downwardly within the bell15.

A unitary valve fitting 20 is secured to and supported from the cap 11by means of a suitable supporting screw 21. The fitting 20 is providedwith an intake tube 22 which projects upwardly through and from the cap11 and downwardly into the housing 10. The lower extremity of the tube21 is normally closed by means of a semi-spherical rubber ball 23.

The ball 23 is seated in a ball cup 24 carried on the extremity of avalve lever 27. The valve lever 27 is suspended through the medium ofsuitable hinge ears 25 from a cotter key 26 extending through thefitting 20 and forming a hinge pivot for the lever. The valve lever 27terminates beneath a vacuum cylinder 28 formed in and projectingdownwardly from the fitting 20.

A vacuum nipple 29 projects upwardly from the vacuum cylinder 28 throughthe cap 11. The lower extremity of the cylinder 28 is closed by means ofa cup-shaped cylinder head 30 frictionally forced thereon. Acuppedpiston 31 is mounted in the cylinder 28 and is constantly urgeddownwardly therein by means of a suitable compression spring 32 actingbetween the piston 31 and the top of the cylinder. A piston stud 33projects downwardly from the piston 31 through the head 30 and ishingedly connected to the extremity of the lever 27 by means of a secondcotter key 34.

The device is installed in the automotive vehicle by securing theupwardly projecting portion of the intake tube 22 into the lowerextremity of the sand supply hose of the vehicle so that the entiredevice is supported from the hose. A vacuum hose is connected from thevacuum nipple 29 to the vacuum system of the vehicle through anysuitable valve arrangement.

Sand will ow down the sand hose to lill the sand tube 22. When it isdesired to discharge sand for traction purposes, the air is evacuatedfrom the vacuum cylinder 28 through the vacuum system. This causesatmospheric pressure to force the piston 31 upwardly in its cylinder 28,causing the stud 33 to lift the extremity of the valve lever 27 so as totilt the ball socket 24 and the ball 23 downwardly to the broken lineposition of Fig. 3, allowing the sand to flow into the housing 10 and todischarge from the bell 15.

Experiment has shown that without the bell and the liexible tube 14,moisture will be blown into the bottom of the housing 10 and will freezetherein with accumulated sand and other debris so as to preventdischarge of the sand. With the bell 15 in place, however, upward travelof the moisture is prevented by the internal shoulders 18, 17 and 35 andthe trapping lip 19. Any debris which might strike and adhere to theinternal walls of the flexible portions of the bell will soon be shakenloose due to the constant whipping and shaking motion of the flexiblebell 15 and its tube 14 while the vehicle is in motion so that cloggingof the housing 10 due to freezing is entirely prevented.

While a vacuum cylinder has been illustrated, for tilting the ball 23,an electric solenoid could be positioned in the exact position of thevacuum cylinder so that the stud 33 would be drawn upwardly magneticallyinstead of pneumatically, should electrical operation be preferred overthe vacuum actuation.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied,within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired securedby Letters Patent is:

l. A sand valve for vehicles comprising: a hopperlike housing having asand discharge in its bottom and a cap closing its top; a unitary valvefitting secured to and beneath said cap within said housing; an intaketube formed on and supported by said fitting, said tube projectingupwardly through said cap and downwardly into said housing; a hingepivot in said fitting; a valve lever tiltably supported intermediate itsextremities from said pivot and positioned below said intake tube; aresilient, hemispherical sealing device carried by one extremity of saidlever and positioned to close the lower extremity of said intake tube;an upwardly extending lever-actuating member hingedly secured to andextending upwardly from the other extremity of said lever; spring meansurging said latter extremity downwardly; and means for urging saidlatter extremity upwardly when desired.

2. A sand valve for vehicles as described in claim l having a vacuumcylinder formed on and supported by said fitting above the said otherextremity of said lever; and a piston in said cylinder connected withsaid leveractuating means for drawing the latter upwardly in response tovacuum in said cylinder, said spring means being positioned in saidcylinder and acting against the piston therein.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,743,293 Toft Jan. 14, 1930 2,016,419 Elston Oct. 8. 1935 2,137,917Lintern Nov. 22, 1938 2,163,911 Lintern June 27, 1939 2,469,980 MyshrallMay 10, 1949

